Boulevard, California — San Diego County

Boulevard, CA. Not a sacrifice zone.

Boulevard's safety, dark skies and desert quiet are under threat from a 588-acre industrial solar project that would place a massive battery storage facility in a very high fire hazard zone — directly alongside the community's only evacuation route — less than a mile from a local elementary school.

We support clean energy — but not projects that put rural communities at risk or concentrate industrial energy infrastructure in one small town.

Take Action Now Learn the Issue

KPBS Public Media · Elaine Alfaro · March 24, 2026

East County's green energy boom — and the rural communities paying the price. Boulevard is at the center of this story.

⚡ SD Planning Commission Hearing: Tentative date June 12, 2026 — Contact your supervisor today

What's Happening

The Starlight Solar Project

Starlight Solar is a proposed 588-acre utility-scale solar and battery storage facility planned for Boulevard — a small rural community in East San Diego County with fewer than 500 households.

We are not anti-solar. Renewable energy is essential. What residents are questioning is the pattern: Boulevard, Jacumba, and Campo have increasingly become the de facto dumping grounds for San Diego County's energy infrastructure — while most of the region's energy demand lies elsewhere. Our residents bear all the risk. The rest of the San Diego region gets all the benefit.

But this project goes beyond inequity — it poses a direct threat to human life.

The facility includes a 217-megawatt battery energy storage system — one of the largest proposed in California — placed directly adjacent to Jewel Valley Road, the community's only paved evacuation route. Boulevard sits in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. The border wall eliminates any southern escape. If a battery fire blocks that road, residents are trapped. The project's own safety documents acknowledge major uncertainties around lithium battery fire response. Clover Flat Elementary School is less than a mile away.

Residents of Boulevard deserve the same safety, transparency, and environmental protection that would be expected in any other San Diego County community.

The County is reviewing this project now. There is still time to act.

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Final EIR · Demands vs. Response

Our demands,
largely unmet

How the Final Environmental Impact Report responded to the Boulevard Planning Group's formal demands. Most were rejected, only partially met, or left dangerously short. Tap any category to see the detail.

Met
Partially Met
Rejected
Unmet / Insufficient
Fire Safety & BESS Design
Partially Met
Rejected
  • Relocating the BESS away from Jewel Valley Road. The physical battery footprint remains frozen directly adjacent to the evacuation corridor.
  • 10-foot minimum separation between containers. Developer maintained ~5.2 ft side-by-side spacing, relying on fire barrier panels and clean-agent suppression to justify the layout.
Partially Met
  • Faulty wind and toxic plume modeling completed, but the study used inaccurate wind speeds citing an average of 4.5 mph and 16.5 mph. They omitted Santa Ana wind events that exceed 50 mph in Boulevard. The modeling does not reflect real worst-case conditions and significantly understates the toxic plume hazard zone.
Met
  • Gas detection systems and emergency coordination integrated into the Final Fire Protection Plan and First Responders Guide — achieved largely by leveraging SD County's updated interim BESS guidelines, not developer initiative.
Unmet
  • HAZMAT PPE and specialized equipment funding for Boulevard and Jacumba stations. Training protocols are included, but direct equipment funding was folded into a generalized county fire services agreement — falling far short of the specific equipment lists requested.
Setbacks
Completely Rejected
Rejected
  • 1,500 ft BESS setback from property lines.
  • 500 ft residential, 400 ft property line, and 300 ft public road setbacks.

What they did instead: The project stuck strictly to minimum county zoning buffers (15 to 60 ft depending on yard) and substituted physical distance demands with increased interior landscaping and visual screening slats in chain-link fences.

Water & Suppression
Unmet
Unmet
  • Only 6 tanks at 10,000 gallons each (60,000 gallons total) distributed across the site — a fraction of the 576,000 gallons required for sustained 24-hour suppression streams. This is approximately 10% of what experts determined is needed to manage a major BESS fire event.
Rejected
  • 100% containment retention basins for contaminated toxic firefighting runoff. The EIR relies on standard stormwater basins rather than specialized closed-containment HAZMAT retention.
Evacuation & Construction Limits
Rejected
Rejected
  • Fully paved secondary evacuation route along Tim Jule Road before construction. The developer is not delivering a pre-construction paved roadway upgrade for public evacuation use.
  • 7:00 AM – 3:00 PM Monday–Friday construction window. The standard county allowance runs until 6:00–7:00 PM and frequently includes Saturdays. The tighter 3:00 PM cutoff and $1,000/hour violation fines were rejected outright.
  • New construction road to keep heavy machinery off Jewel Valley Road. Construction transport will still use primary local access corridors.
Community Benefits
Completely Rejected
Rejected
  • $7 million enforceable community benefit fund controlled locally through the Jacumba-Boulevard Revitalization Alliance (JBRA).
  • Dedicated local hand-crew and Firefighter Type 2 certification programs.

Why: The developer explicitly counts contribution to regional green energy grids and generalized county tax revenue as the "community benefit." They bypassed a legally binding local grant fund entirely and ignored dedicated workforce development requests.

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A Major Flaw in the Project

The Batteries Are Right Next To
Residents' Only Paved Evacuation Route.

If a fire blocks this route, many are trapped.

This is not a theoretical risk. It is a foreseeable, preventable catastrophe — and the County has the power to stop it.

  • Battery fires cannot be extinguished with water. They burn for hours or days and release toxic gas. This Very High Fire Hazard Zone is a tinderbox.
  • Jewel Valley Road is the only real way in or out. There is no reliable secondary route.
  • The border wall blocks any southern escape. Residents have nowhere else to go.
  • The County knows this. San Diego County is actively developing BESS fire safety guidelines, but they are not finished yet. This community is being asked to accept the risk while the rules are still being written.

In 2024, a SDG&E battery fire in Escondido forced mandatory evacuations and closed nearby schools. That was a 30 MW system. Starlight Solar's BESS is 217 MW — more than seven times larger. The County has the authority to require the batteries be relocated within the project site.

Aerial map showing BESS battery hazard location on Jewel Valley Road — the community's only paved evacuation route — with border wall blocking southern escape.

Aerial map: BESS location adjacent to Jewel Valley Rd, the sole paved evacuation route, with the border wall blocking all southern exit

We ask the County Planners and San Diego Board of Supervisors to treat human life and evacuation safety as non-negotiable priorities.

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Key Issues

What else is at stake

Boulevard, CA — boulders and desert landscape at sunset

Our community relies on local groundwater in an already water-stressed region. Residents are concerned about water use during construction, potential contamination risks, and whether long-term impacts on groundwater availability and quality have been fully evaluated.

Many residents moved to Boulevard for its quiet, open landscape and rural pace of life. Large industrial facilities can introduce long-term operational noise, visual impacts, and increased activity that fundamentally change the character of the community.

The project footprint overlaps with sensitive desert habitat that supports raptors, reptiles, rare plants, and migratory wildlife corridors connecting protected lands across the region. Large-scale fencing, grading, and infrastructure could fragment habitat and disrupt these ecological connections.

Boulevard's extraordinary night skies are one of the defining features of the region. Industrial lighting associated with large energy infrastructure could threaten efforts to pursue International Dark Sky Community designation, like nearby Borrego Springs and Julian.

Critical safety documents for the battery storage system are still preliminary or incomplete, and some rely on assumptions rather than the final technology proposed for the project. Residents are asking that full safety analyses and emergency plans be completed before any permits are issued.

Boulevard sits in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, and the project includes one of the largest battery storage systems proposed in California. Lithium battery fires can release toxic gases and may require firefighters to keep their distance and allow the system to burn out.

Ready to help? Take Action

Take Action

Make your voice
impossible to ignore

The most powerful thing you can do right now is contact San Diego County Supervisors directly. Every call and email is logged. Every voice matters — whether you live in Boulevard or anywhere in the county.

Step 01 — Call Your Supervisor

Use This Script

Calls are more impactful than emails. Calls only take about 30 seconds, and staff record every call.

Hello, my name is [Your Name] and I'm a [Your City] resident calling about the proposed Starlight Solar Project in Boulevard.

I'm calling to respectfully OPPOSE this project. I'm concerned about the 588-acre industrial solar and battery storage facility in a rural residential area — especially because it would be located in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, the highest fire risk classification in California.

I'm also concerned about cumulative impacts alongside other large projects like JVR in Jacumba, and the long-term effects of industrial-scale development in East County.

Please log my opposition and share my comments with Supervisor [Name] before the upcoming vote.

Thank you. My zip code is [ZIP] and my phone number is [Phone] if needed.

Step 02 — Email Your Supervisor

Sample Email

Customize the text in brackets. A personal touch makes a difference — add one sentence about why Boulevard matters to you.

Who to Contact — SD County Board of Supervisors
Paloma Aguirre
District 1 — South County
(619) 531-5511
Joel Anderson ★
District 2 — East County · Boulevard's Supervisor
(619) 531-5522
Terra Lawson-Remer
District 3 — Mid-County
(619) 531-5533
Monica Montgomery Steppe
District 4
(619) 531-5544
Jim Desmond
District 5 — North County
(619) 531-5555

Step 03 — Show Up & Spread the Word

Show Up & Spread the Word

Come to our community meetings, share this site with your neighbors, and post on social media. Tag your posts #NoStarlightSolar and #ProtectBoulevard. Every share reaches a new potential ally.

The Bigger Picture

Why one town is
paying the price

"This is the kind of environmental injustice we fear when we look at big-scale energy investments."— Terra Lawson-Remer, SD County Supervisor, on JVR Solar in Jacumba, 8/18/21

From SD County Supervisors Meeting re: JVR Solar in Jacumba, 8/18/21

Academics and community advocates have begun naming this pattern:

"green colonialism" — the imposition of renewable energy projects on disadvantaged and Indigenous communities.

The term, used by San Diego City College assistant professor John Bathke in a March 2026 KPBS investigation, captures exactly what is happening in East County.

Renewable energy is a regional need. But Boulevard and the surrounding East County communities are being asked to carry a disproportionate share of the region's energy infrastructure.

In recent years, multiple large-scale energy projects — including solar generation, battery storage, and transmission infrastructure — have been proposed or approved within the same rural corridor. Yet the electricity they generate primarily serves the broader San Diego region.

The result is a pattern that even county leaders have begun to acknowledge: rural East County is increasingly being treated as a sacrifice zone for urban energy consumption.

This raises a fundamental question of fairness and environmental justice.

If clean energy is a regional priority, its impacts should be shared regionally as well.

San Diego County needs to hear that from you.

Ready to help? Take Action

Our Home

What we're standing up for

Boulevard isn't just a zip code. It's the place where your nervous system unclenches. Where the night sky is so dark the stars feel close enough to touch. Where the water from our wells is so clean and delicious it tastes like the land itself. Where neighbors show up for each other — and for the land.

We love this place for what it gives us:

  • Untouched land and desert boulders
  • Dark skies full of stars
  • Wildlife that lives nowhere else
  • Solitude and quiet that heals
  • Microclimates and rare plants
  • A community that shows up

Share your story: text Thomas at 619-708-6029

These are not abstractions. They are the reasons people chose to live here, raise families here, and stay. Industrial development doesn't just alter a landscape — it erases a way of life.

We are the protectors of this land. It is up to us.

Ready to help? Take Action

Dates to Know

Mark your calendar

Jun 12
2026*
Hearing

SD Planning Commission Hearing

Tentative Date: June 12, 2026. Public comment will be critical. This is a key opportunity to speak on the record — plan to attend in person if at all possible.

TBD
Vote

SD County Board of Supervisors Vote

The final vote by the full Board of Supervisors. Date TBD — we'll update this page as soon as it's confirmed. This is the moment that decides everything.

Ready to help? Take Action

Documents & Tools

Resources for
residents & press

Press Kit

Media Pitch Emails & Press Release

Coming soon!

Action Tool

Supervisor Call Script & Email Template

Go to Take Action →
Official Document

Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR)

View Final EIR →
Ready to help? Take Action

Press Coverage

In the news

Our community's concerns are being heard by regional and national media. This coverage validates what residents have been saying for years — and helps build the broader coalition needed to win.

⭐ Featured Coverage
The San Diego Union-Tribune

Clean energy boom spurs pushback: 'Cumulative impacts are being ignored'

The San Diego Union-Tribune examines the mounting opposition to the rapid concentration of utility-scale solar and battery storage projects in East County's rural communities. The report highlights how residents — including those organizing against Starlight Solar in Boulevard — argue that regulators are approving projects one-by-one without considering the cumulative impacts on fire safety, dark skies, tribal cultural resources, and the rural character of the backcountry.

May 26, 2026 · The San Diego Union-Tribune
KPBS Public Media — Investigations Desk

East County green energy boom sparks concern over impacts to natural landscape, cultural sites

A major investigative report by KPBS covers the wave of renewable energy development in East County — including Starlight Solar in Boulevard, the Jacumba Valley Ranch project, and the pattern scholars are calling "green colonialism." Features voices from our community, the Manzanita Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, and local experts.

March 24, 2026 · Elaine Alfaro, Reporter · KPBS Public Media
FOX 5 San Diego / KUSI News

Boulevard residents oppose solar project

FOX 5 San Diego and KUSI News cover the community pushback against the Starlight Solar project, featuring Boulevard resident Thomas Wall calling for a legitimate, enforceable community benefits agreement, and resident Leona Grunow demanding $7 million in community investment. The report also covers a new battery storage proposal — Desert Jewel — adding to concerns about Boulevard becoming an energy sacrifice zone.

April 8, 2026 · FOX 5 San Diego / KUSI News
▶ Watch Video
East County Magazine

Boulevard residents battle proposed Starlight Solar battery storage facility; urge community to attend

East County Magazine covers the growing community opposition to the 588-acre Starlight Solar project, including residents' fire safety concerns, calls for a second evacuation route and dedicated fire truck, and the upcoming April 15 town hall at the Boulevard Resource Center with a representative from Supervisor Joel Anderson's office.

April 4, 2026 · East County Magazine
East County Magazine

Backcountry residents raise concerns over industrial energy projects during energetic townhall meeting

Hundreds of rural residents packed Boulevard's new Backcountry Resource Center on April 15 to voice concerns over the Starlight Solar project — including its massive battery storage system in a high-fire area, the lone evacuation route on Jewel Valley Road, and the proliferation of industrial energy projects turning the backcountry into what residents call a "de facto dumping ground."

April 29, 2026 · East County Magazine
KPBS Public Media

Jacumba residents say solar project kicking up too much dust

Coverage of the real, on-the-ground impacts Jacumba residents have experienced since JVR construction began — a preview of what Boulevard could face. Construction dust, noise disruption, and an unspent community benefit fund.

January 26, 2026 · KPBS Public Media
KPBS Public Media

Residents say Jacumba's special charm threatened by solar project

Earlier KPBS coverage documenting community pushback in Jacumba as the 600-acre JVR Energy Park moved toward approval — the cautionary story Boulevard residents are watching closely.

November 20, 2025 · KPBS Public Media

Press & Media

Media contacts
& resources

We welcome journalists covering renewable energy siting, rural communities, environmental justice, and local government. This story is part of a larger national conversation about how we pursue climate goals without creating new sacrifice zones.

We can connect you with residents, tribal representatives, and fire safety experts who can speak on the record. We have photographic and video documentation of the land at stake.

Media Contact For interview requests, background, and documentation — contact us at the email below.
Email Us

Available for Comment

We have speakers available on: tribal and cultural concerns (Manzanita Band), fire safety and mitigation, cumulative environmental impacts, rural character and community. Contact us if you can speak on a particular topic or know someone who can.

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Our Partners

Standing together

We are proud to work alongside tribal partners, local organizations, and community leaders who share a commitment to fair treatment of our land, our water, and our people.

Get Involved →